Performance Assessment Tasks

Our curriculum committees have been talking about performance tasks, scales and rubrics.  For those of us that have been teaching for some time, we know these are not new.  We have written performance tasks before in Grand Forks Public Schools when we created our original district standards document titled "Frameworks".  Robert Marzano was here back then talking about performance tasks and rubrics.  I stumbled across an old article about performance tasks from ASCD.  It quotes McTighe, another familiar name in the area of educational research.  In fact, most articles from ASCD that deal with performance assessment are from the 90's.  No, performance tasks are not "new"- we just need to "renew" our knowledge of them.  They are an engaging and effective way to assess student learning.  Here are some old articles I dug up:
Perspectives on Authentic Assessment
Implementing Performance Assessment in the Classroom
Education Update:Designing Performance Assessment Tasks:Designing Performance Assessment Tasks
Defining Performance Assessment
US Dept. of Education 1993

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Flip Your Students' Learning

The newest issue of Educational Leadership is titled:  Technology-Rich Learning.  As, usual it is full of thought provoking and rich articles.  Here is one that you might be interested in:
Educational Leadership:Technology-Rich Learning:Flip Your Students' Learning
Think about the daily access our students have to technology - and it is the norm, not the exception for our students to be "plugged in" most of the time.  What do I mean?  I never see my daughter talk on her smart phone.  Yet, it is in her hands most of the time and she is texting, googling, twittering, on Tublr or Facebook.  She accesses her school work via Google Docs and can work on it from her MacBook, our family PC or my iPad.  My son takes better care of his Netbook than most other possessions and would be lost with out his iPod touch and Kindle.
Technology is the way of life today!  Does that carry over into the classroom?

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Using Visuals to Teach Key Content

In Visual Discovery activities, students view, touch, interpret, and bring to
life compelling images as they discover key social studies concepts. Seeing and
interacting with an image in combination with reading and recording notes
on the content helps students remember salient ideas.

Video: Using Visuals to Teach Key Content (5 min)
Video:  Visual Discovery
Handout:  Visual Discovery in Five Easy Steps

Websites for free images:

GRIN--Great Images from NASA--has over one thousand images of historical

interest in a variety of sizes. Be sure the peruse the pictures of presidents at

NASA facilities and events.

Edupic Graphical Resource is a teacher-designed image resource. Their

ancient civilizations section is especially strong.

The National Archives has created the Digital Vaults which

include 1,200 of the 10 billion records they house. A history buff’s dream.

Photos8 has a collection of high resolution stock photos. Social studies

teachers will find the travel section useful.

John Tenniel and the American Civil War

In addition to creating the famous illustrations for Alice in Wonderland and

Through the Looking Glass, Tenniel was a gifted political cartoonist.

This site contains political cartoons focused on the Civil War.

TreasureNet 

You’ll find images of the Civil War and American West on this unusual

web site aimed at treasure seekers.

TCI Webinars

TCI Webinars

Whether you want to learn more about our technology or teaching strategies, or you use TCI every day and want some teacher-to-teacher tips, you can get ideas, strategies and support from the TCI Webinars. There are several you can register for or there are many "on demand" available.  Topics include:  Common Core Standards, Digital Notebooks, Creating Passionate Debates and Fervent Dialogues about Social Studies,  A Tweetcher's Guide to Twitter, Gaming for Class Success, Common Core: Helping Students Master Text Structure, and much, much more.

Click here to learn more!